Chapter 23
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(22 BBY)

 

For the past eight months we have secured and fortified our foothold in Coruscant’s under belly. We have set up mini-forts at multiple location on level 1313. Anyone who wants to take this level from us will have to pay dearly.

 

We have also discretely taken over all the landing pads on this level. We started operating a trading company from this level as the subsidiary of, subsidiary of, subsidiary of the Straxon Corporation, we would also provide cheap repair and basic refit/modification services for ships and speeders, even less legal modifications. This also acts as a cover for our smuggling rings.

 

Although we have landing pads, we don’t unload the majority of smuggled weapons and spice on our level, we have drop offs on lower levels.

 

We have also created a series small to medium factories for manufacturing and repairing droids, mainly battle droids, spread throughout hidden locations on this level. Now you can see droids of different types walking around this level maintaining public order, sanitation duty, doing construction work or just plain old surveillance. And in hidden locations throughout the level I was able to accumulate a substantial army of droids and vehicles, with more being added to this hidden army each passing day.

 

We did get a few inspections from the underworld police. But having senators and other government officials in our pocket is a good thing, we were even able to get our claws into the security forces. We are the law enforcement for this level now. We made these connections through the Maratelli family, but they deal with us now as we have more resources to throw around than a local crime family. All our businesses on Coruscant were thus able to get the sign of approval from the different agencies.

 

To further our control over this level, we operated like a sort of mafia. We would set protection and operating fees for the local populace. And for those who are under our protection, they get better treatment like cheaper costs for our services and in some cases handing over shares of their businesses for loans at very low interests, investments, education for their young (the children were taught required skills along with slowly being ‘indoctrinated’), off-world commodities and such. We even set up orphanages (Children from here would go on to travel to our Mandalorian training program on Mandalore), these will start showing results when the war starts. A ‘hearts and minds’ campaign if you will. 

 

While on the topic of businesses, I received quite a few from the guy whose head I bashed in. He had quite a few cantinas, pubs and clubs, droid shops and other ventures throughout 1313 and many other floors and sectors, including the lower market district and entertainment district. This for some reason included major shares in the Outlander club and in 79’s, both of which I am sure will come in handy. I even rented out a small cantina on the lower levels to the Bounty hunters guild. The increased supply of different type of droids into the markets of the upper levels also further increased our intelligence network.

 

Right now, I am on my way to the Senate apartment complex. Satine was here for a few meetings with allied and friendly worlds. As I approach the apartment, I am met by armed Mandalorian guards, they salute and move out of my way. These guards are from the top echelon of the night owls. As I enter, I am met with the sight of Satine sitting at the table looking over some document and sitting on a couch near the table was Bo-Katan.

 

“How is my little huntress doing this fine day.” I say as I approach Bo-Katan and place a kiss on her lips, which she reciprocates and soon turns into a tongue wrestling match.

 

“Can you both not do that here. Show some restraint will you.”  Complains Satine.

 

“Come on sister, you should lighten up a bit. Why don’t you get a boyfriend as well.” Says Bo-Katan.

 

“Bo is right, why not follow up on the little jedi crush you had” I tease.

 

“Oh, shut up you two. And you know that won’t work out Thrunn” she says. I could see a little sadness in her eyes.

 

“Who knows what the future might hold in store. Don’t worry, if you want, I can hunt him down, put him on carbon and deliver him to you with a ribbon on top. Just say the word” I said half teasingly and half seriously.

 

She just sighs “Kriff off” and goes back to her work.

 

“Stop teasing my sister and let’s go, I have a lot to ‘talk’ about” with that Bo-katan pulls me towards a bedroom.

 

After a few hours we came out. And Satine was glaring at us. “Could you not make so much noise. The whole senate apartment building must have heard you” she said in an annoyed tone.

 

“You won’t be quiet if you experienced what I just went through” said Bo-Katan with a teasing tone. Which brings a slight shade of crimson on to Satine’s cheeks. I just laugh.

 

As we were talking a guard come in and salutes “Mand’alore, the senator of Naboo and a delegation is here to see the duchess.” He says.

 

“Send them in” I say putting on my helmet and finding a seat on one of the sofas alongside Bo-Katan.

 

Soon enough Padme, Mon Mothma and Bail Organa walk in. They don’t notice me. I always wondered why guards never notice any assassin while sitting on a bench, now I truly understand. ‘#benches/sofas-op’ is all I have to say.

 

Satine stands up to greet them. “Good to see you after a long time Padme. Nice to meet you as well Senators” says Satine.

 

“It’s good to see you as well Satine” she says smiling.

 

“Please come, sit” Satine leads them to the chairs in front of the table.

 

“What brings you here today? I know this isn’t just a social visit” Satine pushes the conversation forward. 

 

“We wanted to discuss the army creation bill that is being pushed in the Senate. We wanted to request your support; we are gathering supporters against it. Having you will further solidify our side.” Said Padme.

 

“I am sorry Padme, but I will be abstaining from the vote. We are neither against or for the bill.” Said Satine apologetically.

 

“But what about the peace we maintained so far. This bill will be bringing militarization and unnecessary warmongering…” Padme was cut short by my laughing.

 

“Really Padme? Even after the invasion of Naboo, you haven’t got your head out of the clouds.” I say laughing. She was surprised, after finally noticing me. She didn’t expect to see me there.

 

“And who are you to speak here? This is no place for a mere bounty hunter to speak” say Mothma in her usual high and mighty tone.

 

“Bitch, watch your tongue” hisses Bo-Katan going for her blaster. I just put my hand on her shoulder and gently pull her back. Padme also becomes nervous. She knows who I am and what I am capable of.

 

“I would watch who you antagonize senator, or Chandrila might have to find a new one” I say menacingly. Then I turn to Padme “Advice your friends not to bark up the wrong tree Padme. For their own good” I said ominously.

 

“Senators may I introduce you to Nomad of The Ghosts, or more commonly known as the Ghost of Mandalore” realization dawns over Bail and Mothma. Anyone worth their salt has atleast heard of me by now. “What are you doing here?” asks Padme.

 

“No need to worry your pretty little head over what I am doing. Have you already forgot what I told you on Naboo. Peace without the means to protect it, is just a glass house waiting to be shattered. You may try but I can assure you this bill will pass somehow. As for Mandalore, we are and will remain a neutral party. We also believe having the means to protect your people’s peace is a good policy. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” I say.

 

Padme becomes thoughtful. “Is that truly the stand of Mandalore?” Mothma asks Satine, who nods in affirmation. “Then we have wasted both of our time with this meeting. We shall take our leave” says Mothma standing up to leave.

 

“In a decade’s time, you will be considering the same line of thought as well.” I say ominously. Mothma just stares at me for a minute and walks away. Just as they were leaving, I called out “Padme, please stay for a minute”.

 

After the others left, I said “I admire your tenacity, but you must first make sure you continue to live no matter the adversity, so that you can fight for you ideals. The ones that survive, are always the true winners. I say this because, me and some of my associates have received assassination requests on your head.”

 

“And did you accept?” she asked.

 

“Do you think if I accepted, you would still be alive?” I asked. She nodded in acceptance.

 

“Who is it that want to assassinate me?” she asks.

 

“Can’t say. Bounty hunter’s code of conduct. Saying this much itself is pushing the boundaries. All I will say is to watch your back.” I answered.

 

“Very well. See you later Satine.” She says her farewell and leaves.

 

After everyone leaves Bo-Katan asks “You made that up, didn’t you? I have never heard of any such code of conduct.” I just snicker in reply.

 

“Can’t you protect her?” asks Satine.

 

“First of all, why would I? Me warning her should be more than enough for now. There is a larger plot afoot here, and I don’t want to drag our people directly into its murky depths. Secondly, it’s time to initiate project fulcrum. Set the clock for the end of next month. The device is ready and primed for deployment, all our assets are in place ready for the go ahead.” I say.

 

“How much of the unknown region do we have under our control?” she asks.

 

“More than a few hundred systems and counting. The expansion is as fast as it can be, for now. As every system occupied by ‘the expansion fleets’ has to undergo fortification and development. And incase we run into hostile aliens, they have to exterminate or conquer the threat, before the respective fleet moves on to the next system. But after Fulcrum, the expansion will be at a faster rate. The fortifications and development will lag behind it a little, but we will focus on rapid expansion. We also had to convert the populations of populated planets to Mandalorians and integrate them into our system, leading to slight delays” I explain.

 

“You call the conquest of a few hundred systems, slow progress?” Both Bo-Katan and Satine look at me exasperatedly.

 

“With the resources at my disposal, and almost a decade’s time it can be called moderate at best. It was this slow because I wanted to make sure our core is very solid.” I say sagely “Also read through this. We made a major breakthrough. This will help out people a lot” I said handing them a datapad.

 

Vanzii and the research droids have finally made the serum useable. It will exponentially increase immunity and health in general, increase life span, and it had an unintentional bonus of increasing reproductivity rates in humans and near-human species. This will help increase our population exponentially.

 

Like that we spent the rest of the day planning and bantering about anything, till Bo-Katan pulled me of to ‘play’, again.

 

(Month 4, 22 BBY)

 

I got intelligence that Chata Hyoki had been hired to assassinate Padme. Who in turn hired Zam wessel to do the dirty work for him. That means it was time to set my plans in motion. I was still on coruscant, but project fulcrum was in full swing. A Servitor class ship had moved the Rakatan device to an empty system in Mandalorian sector space. It was selected because the anomaly would then cover the entirety of Mandalorian sector and leave no system behind. Once the device was ready, the evacuation orders will be given. By now all Mandalorian citizens have all been registered and they will be corralled into the waiting colony ships. An hour after the colony ships are under way from all the systems the device will be activated. When it activates the servitor ship will be lost, so it was manned by a skeletal crew of droids.

 

I am currently sitting in an integrated control room of a modified YV-929, in the outer reaches of the Thustra system, only a jump away from the Mandalorian sector.  I was monitoring the progress of the operation. All citizens will be onboard and accounted for within the hour, and the colony ships can depart then. It’s a waiting game.

 

(An hour later)

(POV Lorai Tryk)

 

I was supposed to be at school right now, but there was a planetary scale emergency and all registered citizens were asked to evacute to waiting passenger ships. The timeline the government had set for departure was six hours. We were to take just the basic necessities and board the ships waiting for us.

 

As I made my way to the airstrips with my family, we could see people lining up to board large freighters waiting for them. There was armored soldiers and Battle droids keeping the peace and order during the evacuation. 

 

“Come this way Lorai.” I could hear my father, Jared Tryk, calling to me from the checkpoint. We could make it through the checks quickly, as my father was a high ranking official in the government. Apparently, there was a transport ship waiting for us and some other families like us. Once we boarded the shuttle we were on our way.

 

As soon we breakthrough the atmosphere, the sight that greets us was mind-numbingly astonishing. Every passenger in the transport ship was looking out a window mesmerized. There in front of us was a large armada of ships, each lumbering in space giving of an intimidating aura. Each carrying the Mandalorean sigil on their hulls. I didn’t know we had such a large navy, Let alone such giant ships. Calling them huge would be an understatement.

 

“Dad, when did Mandalore get such a strong navy?” I asked my dad.

 

He looked puzzled as well “I don’t know Lorai”

 

The military officer accompanying us, smiled at our bewilderment and explained “What you see before you, are the third and fourth assault fleets of the Mandalorian Navy. They will be accompanying the colony ships to our new territories. More fleets will join us within the hour from all over the Mandalorian sector”.

 

“So, we aren’t the only one being evacuated and what new territories.” I asked.

 

“No every Mandalorian is being evacuated, this is happening in every Mandalorian controlled system. And the rest will be explained in due time.” He smiled knowingly at me. It is kind of annoying for me, not knowing what’s going on “Just enjoy the site. If you think this is impressive, wait till you see the assault fleets in full strength. Or if you are lucky you will get to see ‘Te Prudii Gaan’ fleet, that fleet dwarfs all other assault fleets” he said going back to his console.

 

Which I did. The sight was awe inspiring there were ships atleast five kilometers long in the armada. Bristling with guns and fighter patrolling all around. If this doesn’t get the blood of every Mandalorian pumping I don’t know what will.

 

Our transport soon lands in the landing bay of a large ship. It was large, I mean very large. We were all herded into a large common area to wait for rooms to be assigned. It will soon be time to depart to where ever this new territory was.

 

As the departure time arrives a large holographic image appears at the front of the common room. It was Duchess Satine. “People of Mandalore. I come to you bringing news of hope for a better future. I apologize for the little deception, but it was needed. I stand before you step down from my duty as the overall leader of Mandalore. To explain further, I present to you our new Mand’alor” 

 

Wait, did she just say Mand’alor. It has been ages since the rise of the last one.

 

As on que an image pops up. He was an imposing figure and handsome too. He was wearing pitch black armor with green and golden accents.

 

“Greeting my brothers and sisters. I am Thrunn Straxon of clan Eldar, I laid claim to the title of Mand’alor more than a year ago. You might be wondering, why keep it a secret till now. It was mainly to keep our enemies away. If they perceived a threat to their plans, the very existence of our great people would have been threatened. As for why now. Great schemes are in motion and the galaxy will soon be in turmoil, for the foreseeable future. Thus, I found it prudent to move our people away from the crossfire. Do not worry, for we are not leaving Mandalore behind. I spent the past decade building up and conquering systems in the unknown region, so that our people may grow without interference. I have built cities on garden worlds; they await your arrival. I have built fleets and armies, for peace can’t be maintained without the means to protect it. And finally, I stumbled upon ancient relics, one of which can translocate a large swathe of space to another location. I have this device primed and ready for activation. It will bring the entirety of Mandalorian sector to our new territory. But it may adversely affect you, hence this little hoax emergency and mass migration. Once we reach our new territory, you will be assigned to new planets where you can live fruitful lives. All the while progressing our civilization to new heights. I swear to live by you and for you as your new Mand’alore. I will stand before any threat that may come our way. All I ask is for your support and for you to stand by me. I am but one warrior, but together we are Mando’a. For our brothers and sisters. For our families. FOR MANDO’A!” He ends it by raising and igniting the dark saber, it’s thrumming echoing through the hall. Reverberating through our very blood and soul. Someone started shouting, then everyone started joining the war cry.

 

Whatever happens now we have a strong leader now. From what I have seen we have a strong military and new territory. Our people have been yearning for change. And now we have it, we have our very own Mand’alore. Come hell or high water we must stand together as one people. Soon people started singing;

 

Kote!
Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an.
Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an.
Bal kote, darasuum kote,
Jorso'ran kando a tome.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an.
Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an.
Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an.
Bal...
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.
Aruetyc talyc runi'la solus cet o'r.
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.
Aruetyc talyc runi'la trattok'o.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an!

 

(POV Thrunn)

 

I sit there in the coms room. I cut the video feed from my side, but I could still here and see the people. I saw their war chants and I heard their war songs. It resonated in my blood and my soul.

 

As I walk to the bridge and look out the window, I see a blinding flash. The device was activated. That flash signified more than just the translocation of a sector. It signified the hope for an entire civilization.

 

We will stand united, in front of any danger and challenge to our people’s eternal glory. We will strike down any threat, overcome any challenge.

 

Brothers and sisters one and all, united in the hope for a better future. For our dwindling people.

 

Let the games begin….

 

 

(Mandalorian clan soldier - https://in.pinterest.com/pin/573997914993631050/)

(Mandalorian General Infantry - https://in.pinterest.com/pin/183310647312562765/)

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